Chisholm: Lowry's Struggles and Dwayne Casey

In retrospect it's funny how we all interpreted Dwane Casey's hedging on the topic of Lowry's status last summer. Everyone assumed last summer that when Casey insisted that Lowry would have to earn the starting spot over Calderon that he was merely being respectful of his veteran leader. The refrain carried into training camp, though, and by the time Kyle Lowry returned from injury in January, he had been officially supplanted in the starting five by Calderon.

I also think the Raptors beat guys know more about this than they are letting on...

Rumours of discord between Casey and Lowry ran hot in early 2013, so much so that there was talk that the Raptors might actually be willing to trade Lowry, despite the excitement that greeted him upon his arrival. In the end, Casey may not have been trying to pay respect to Calderon but rather cast his lot with Team Jose from the very start.

On his ineffectiveness....

While Lowry's penchant for wild passes and turnovers helped lead to his game being restricted by his coach, the pendulum has now swung so far the other way that Lowry is now left looking no more effective as a lead guard than decidedly second-rate options like Jeff Teague or Brandon Jennings – and far from his advertised role of Point Guard of the Future.

Basically Casey needs to coach to his strengths and Lowry needs to just say F the haters and play his game.

Not much of a topic here... interesting to find out about the earlier rumblings on Lowry not getting a long with people in Toronto it may have been Casey, however from body language Id say they are fine with one another, but that could just be professionalism .

I'm still not sold on Lowry as the PG this team needs. Trying to consider current and future roster issues, I don't see why I would be inclined to extend him long-term rather than try and trade him when his value is high as an expiring contract.

I said it in another thread but focusing on Demar, that one scenario I would consider trading DD in is going after a PG like Rondo. In such a deal, I imagine it would be Lowry + Demar + draft pick(s), or something along those lines. This obviously depends on Boston deciding to blow it up and go for the draft next year. KG (and maybe even Pierce) would have to decide to retire.

Lowry's a HEADCASE. Been saying this really since the day they acquired him. This is why i'm not a fan of the trade. It's not just about Lowry's game it's also because of his attitude. Guy's got a huge ego and talks and acts like he's a 1st ballot hall of famer. I've seen enough of him in Houston and i've seen enough of him here. Package him along with Bargnani for a veteran player and a 1st round draft pick this summer.

"Analytics DON'T work at all. It's some crap that people that are really smart made up to get in the game. Bunch of smart guys who have never played. The NBA is about TALENT" - Charles Barkley #Truth

Lowry's a HEADCASE. Been saying this really since the day they acquired him. This is why i'm not a fan of the trade. It's not just about Lowry's game it's also because of his attitude. Guy's got a huge ego and talks and acts like he's a 1st ballot hall of famer. I've seen enough of him in Houston and i've seen enough of him here. Package him along with Bargnani for a veteran player and a 1st round draft pick this summer.

lol what, everything is supposed to be all shiny and clean with coach? Can't voice displeasure and show his emotions towards somebody that's supposed to understand it anyway?
As much as fighting and arguing with the coaching staff/teammates is a negative, a lot is just natural reaction. I'm pretty sure at some point when we've played basketball competitively, we've had some disagreements with our coaches..

Casey and Lowry before the season even said they were BOTH going to have disagreements. It's really not a surprise, but when you bring in Houston, I remember many saying Lowry wasn't the only one showing displeasure with the Coach McHale.

I've watched Lowry say all the right things, support his team mates including Calderon when he would get hot. I haven't seen him commit a single professional mistake this year...which is what HEADCASES do. Lowry is not a head case. He is not playing to his strengths but being PG requires you to make eight other people better and can take more than four months of starting to get there.

casey needs to adapt more than lowry. hes done a terrible job managing this talent on this team, bargs took the hit at the beginning of the season, now lowry. hes a terrible offensive coach and i believe hes the reason for their struggles.

Lowry is more of a drive and kick player, whereas Casey wants him to run the pick and roll. i mean, i get WHY they want to run the pick and roll but that kind of play isn't really what Lowry is good at.

truth be told though, Lowry HAS clashed with each of his past coaches so i'm not sure "he's not being used right" is the best argument for why he hasn't been what every team hoped for when they got him. on one hand, he has been basically neutered by Casey, but on the other hand, this isn't the first team he's been a malcontent.

The Raptors already had a stretch of this season where Lowry was let off his chain and allowed to basically do whatever he wanted. The result was great numbers for KL, but at the expense of team success and the production of the players around him. Remember the meeting in Denver? Where Bargnani AND Lowry were called out by their teammates for selfish play?

Lowry is not the type of player where you can justify alienating the rest of your roster just so he can "play his game", especially when the team struggled so mightily to start the season with that as the game plan. He never will be that type of player. Of course, Colangelo needs to save face after trading what could end up being a top 6-7 pick for him so I'd expect Casey to be gone this summer to try and appease him. This is the Rudy and Kyle show for the next year (minimum), and if BC has his way I'd expect it to last a lot longer than that.

This is the Rudy and Kyle show for the next year (minimum), and if BC has his way I'd expect it to last a lot longer than that.

What if Colangelo isn't the GM next year? All of a sudden, Gay and Lowry are potential trade pieces, instead of long-term core pieces.

That's what I'm hoping for. I was initially interested in seeing if Lowry could replicate or improve his best Houston numbers, and also initially interested to see what a change of scenery would do for Gay. I've seen enough of both to believe that they aren't what I want to watch as this team's two de facto 'alpha dogs' going forward. Toronto isn't sniffing a championship with Lowry running the show and Gay taking 25 shots a game and seemingly exerting effort only when it suits him.

Lowry hasn't played well in a Raptors uniform. And he'll be looking for a significant pay raise when his contract is up. They can't re-up him based on his performance.

Gay hasn't played well in a Raptors uniform (and wasn't playing well in a Grizz uniform, either). And he makes a fortune and demands a lot of touches that he hasn't proven he deserves or that will result in better team performance overall.

They would be well-advised to explore the trade market and see what a return might look like for both guys, IMO. Neither are terrible players, but neither are all-stars, either, and I firmly believe they both see themselves as the key players on this team -- not a winning prospect.

Definition of Statistics: The science of producing unreliable facts from reliable figures.

lol what, everything is supposed to be all shiny and clean with coach? Can't voice displeasure and show his emotions towards somebody that's supposed to understand it anyway?
As much as fighting and arguing with the coaching staff/teammates is a negative, a lot is just natural reaction. I'm pretty sure at some point when we've played basketball competitively, we've had some disagreements with our coaches..

Casey and Lowry before the season even said they were BOTH going to have disagreements. It's really not a surprise, but when you bring in Houston, I remember many saying Lowry wasn't the only one showing displeasure with the Coach McHale.

Lol really? are you really going to give me that naive kind of a response?? Lowry HAS clashed with each of his past coaches!! It's a FACT! and there's a reason for that. Don't give me that, is everything supposed to be all shiny and clean with the coach response.

You brought up McHale, and it's funny because i've never heard any SINGLE negative comments said about him by any of his current players. The current Rockets team LOVE playing for McHale. As for last year, where did you hear the rumour that Lowry wasn't the only one showing displeasure with McHale?

"Analytics DON'T work at all. It's some crap that people that are really smart made up to get in the game. Bunch of smart guys who have never played. The NBA is about TALENT" - Charles Barkley #Truth

Lol really? are you really going to give me that naive kind of a response?? Lowry HAS clashed with each of his past coaches!! It's a FACT! and there's a reason for that. Don't give me that, is everything supposed to be all shiny and clean with the coach response.

You brought up McHale, and it's funny because i've never heard any SINGLE negative comments said about him by any of his current players. The current Rockets team LOVE playing for McHale. As for last year, where did you hear the rumour that Lowry wasn't the only one showing displeasure with McHale?